Third day of working at Circus Baby’s. This time, I got there early, early enough to look around. I decided to check the main entrance, since I didn’t really have the chance to do so. I stepped inside and boy, it was huge. There were posters on the walls and arcade games in one corner. I decided that I will play one of them another day. The elevator was at least three times the size of mine. The funny thing about the posters, though, was that you could tell apart the old and the new ones. Did they not see that Baby’s eye color has changed? Was it just my imagination? Did I just go crazy after the events in my childhood?

I did I shouldn’t have gone there

I went back to my elevator. HandUnit made me pick some background music to play. Whatever the hell I tried to type was autocorrected to “casual bongos”. Seriously, screw that thing.
I got into the Module and was welcomed by HandUnit’s instructions. “Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today’s shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or may not be skilled enough to perform. It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy’s power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be an inefficient path forward, as we would need to allow six to eight weeks for recovery and physical therapy. You will need to reach the Parts and Service room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let’s check on Ballora first, and make sure she’s on her stage.”
I turned on the light in Ballora Gallery and… what the hell? Ballora was taken apart, her parts held up by the Minireenas, the two feet drawing doll-looking ballerinas. Apparently, this was normal to HandUnit. Funtime Foxy wasn’t even there, but HandUnit didn’t seem to care. I didn’t bother to think about it.
“There is no need to check on Baby tonight. Please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Proceed directly to Funtime Auditorium.”
Screw the Funtime Auditorium. I’m going straight into Baby’s module.
I was inside. I was expecting to see something unusual, but nothing happened. The room was dead quiet. Disappointed, I wanted to go back, but something was telling me to stay. Okay, if I stay, I should at least be safe. I squeezed myself in the space under the desk.
Then I heard her.

…

“Did you know that I was on stage once? It wasn’t for very long, only one day. What a wonderful day, though. I was in a small room with balloons and a few tables. No-one sat at the tables, though, but children would run in and out. Some were afraid of me, others enjoyed my songs. Music was always coming from somewhere else, down the hall. I would always count the children, I’m not sure why. I was always acutely aware of how many there were in the room with me. Two, then three, then two, then three, then four, then two, then none. They usually played together in groups of two or three.
I was covered in glitter. I smelled like birthday cake. There were two, then three, then five, then four. I can do something special, did you know that? I can make ice cream, although I only did it once. There were four, then three, then two. Then one. Something happened when there was one. A little girl, standing by herself. I was no longer – myself. And I stopped singing. My stomach opened and there was ice cream. I couldn’t move at least, not until she stepped closer. There was screaming for a moment, but only for a moment. Then other children rushed in again, but they couldn’t hear her over the sounds of their own excitement. I still hear her sometimes. Why did that happen?”

…

I knew who the little girl was. If this was a normal day, I’d be crying. But this wasn’t a normal day. She was still here. I had to help her.
At least he said so.

…

“Unlike Ballora, Funtime Foxy is motion-activated. For this reason, it is important to keep the room dark, as to not accidentally activate her. You have been provided with a flash beacon. Use it if you need to get your bearings and to ensure you don’t bump into anything. However, use it as sparingly as possible. Proceed forward to reach the Parts and Service room.”
Oh, boy. Why did I have to do this? Just deactivate him, or her, I don’t know.
I flashed my beacon towards Parts&Service. It wasn’t that far, actually. I waited for the beeping that I assumed to be the beacon recharging to stop and walked a few steps more. I flashed again just to see where I was going and saw Foxy standing a few feet away. I waited until I heard them go away. I took a deep breath; this was close. This went on for a while, like some awful game of hide and seek. I finally made my way to Parts&Service, opened the door and found another unpleasant surprise.
Funtime Freddy was sitting in the middle of the room and I just hoped that he was deactivated. HandUnit gave me instructions on how to reach the power module. I pressed the button on Freddy’s face and his faceplates all opened at once. It freaked me out a bit, but I continued to do what I had to. Finally, the metal plate on Freddy's torso swung open, revealing his endoskeleton and the power module. It was a small metal disc with a blinking red light. I put it in my pocket and took a moment to think about what I was seeing. His torso was huge, probably big enough to fit… Oh, no. No, no, no. When I looked at the blueprints a few years ago, I saw something inside the torso that I couldn’t make out what it was. That moment, I realized what it was.
It was a child.

…

“Press the large, black button below BonBon’s bowtie,” said HandUnit and woke me up from my daydreaming. I flashed my light at Freddy’s right arm where BonBon usually replaced the hand, but he was gone. I looked around and caught a glimpse of him. How did he move on his own though? Not the right time for this, Mike. I had to find him.
After a few failed attempts, I finally figured out what I had to do. It was pretty simple – I couldn’t flash my light at him. I succeeded at the first try. The button fell off and BonBon deactivated. I got out as quickly as possible.

…

I was back in Funtime auditorium. I flashed my beacon, waited and then started walking. I thought about what I just figured out. Why was any of this? I was so deep in my thoughts that I forgot about Foxy. Panicking, I flashed my beacon again, but I was too late. Foxy saw me and ran at me. I heard him scream as his faceplates opened to reveal the endoskeleton.
Then it all went black.